fancies bright and dark

responses: Private Romeo

I have put off watching this film for a long time – but I finally played the DVD tonight, and I must say I was very glad that I finally did. Private Romeo (2011) was written and directed by Alan Brown, based on the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The official synopsis begins:

When eight cadets are left behind at an isolated military high school, the greatest romantic drama ever written seeps out of the classroom and permeates their lives.

Much of the film’s action and dialogue comes from the original Shakespeare, with just enough modern-day, original dialogue to relocate the story in time and space. It was actually filmed in cadet or high school locations (rather than in built sets), which adds terrific verisimilitude.

Sam / Romeo and Glenn / Juliet

My misgivings – to backtrack for a moment – were about the all-male cast. I have a bit of an aversion to all-male casts, and certainly all-white-male casts, as I feel it’s time for others to have their turn. I’m far more interested in all-minority casts. (I saw an all-female Henry IV on stage recently, and oh my god it rocked.) Of course the homoerotics with an all-male cast are an enticement, but I’m just not done with the need for affirmative action yet.

On the other hand, this film was created in response to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy which was still in force in the US military back then, and one can’t argue with that as a different and equally necessary ‘affirmative action’!

One of the other enticements for me was simply the chance to explore yet another adaptation of this story. As anyone who reads this blog will know by now, Romeo and Juliet is (for better or worse) the Shakespeare play I know best. So I’m always keen to see what people do with it, whether they are aiming at a ‘straight’ production (as it were) or mixing it up into something new.

And, for a start, I must applaud Alan Brown for his selections from the original text. Much of the Shakespearian dialogue will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the play before. However, a pleasingly large proportion of the dialogue was stuff that isn’t regularly used. Which in itself made the film really refreshing. It’s great to have someone shake things up like that! The same story was told (albeit in a shortened form) but in ways that weren’t always using the ‘obvious’ or expected choices.

Carlos / Tybalt and Josh / Mercutio

The acting was nothing short of superb. Even in scenes where the visual logic and story outcomes were playing out in ways different to the dialogue, the actors remained utterly true to the emotion, the moment and the meaning. Kudos to them. Making a film is always a team effort, but this is one of those projects where the actors need to carry the audience along with them in their subjective truths. And they did.

All eight cast members did a fine job, particularly as most were doubling roles. But I was particularly impressed by Seth Numrich as Sam / Romeo, Matt Doyle as Glenn / Juliet, and Hale Appleman as Josh / Mercutio / Capulet. Seth Numrich, above all. The early scenes of Sam falling into the sudden vulnerabilities of love were exquisite. Of working up the courage to declare himself, of being brave enough to do so, and then of fearing the response… Oh my. And the ‘What sadness lengthens Romeo’s hours?’ scene with him, and Sean Huddock as Gus / Benvolio, was incredible. Just really natural. I’ve never heard anyone deliver Romeo’s lines with such simple candour.

There are other scenes, too, that are deeply moving in their honesty – including a dialogue-free encounter between Josh, and Bobby Moreno as Carlos / Tybalt, where they find a moment’s peace and acceptance between them.

I won’t spoil the story any further, but there is hope to be looked for, as indeed I very much want there to be in this day and age. A film highly recommended for anyone who finds any of this even remotely interesting!

Juliet and her Romeo

Links:

The official site, and source of the above photos, is here. I love that the Downloads page includes a study guide for high school teachers!

Images

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